President of the United States Donald Trump does not rule out the possibility of supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles that would allow it to attack deep into Russia. He writes about this CNN citing officials familiar with the situation.
According to them, in the past few weeks, the head of the White House has been discussing with European allies the possibility of providing Ukraine with certain types of offensive weapons, including those that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously requested from the United States.
Also, an informed source said, Trump was interested in whether Ukraine was capable of striking deep into Russia. Recently, the media published an episode of this telephone conversation between the head of the White House and Zelensky.
CNN sources said that this was one of many questions the US president asked during the call, and sounded in passing. After the conversation, they say, Ukraine continued to discuss the possible provision of long-range missiles with European countries and the United States.
However, after the release of the aforementioned episode of the conversation between Trump and Zelensky, the White House stated that the excerpt was taken out of context. Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt emphasized that"President Trump was simply asking questions, not encouraging further killings."
"This episode highlights the current dynamic between the two countries, as Zelensky works tirelessly to curry favor with Trump and is reluctant to lose the limited support he has from the United States," the report says.
The publication also recalled that Trump's representative to NATO, Matt Whitaker, stated the day before that when supplying weapons to Ukraine, the main focus is currently on defensive systems, such as Patriot missile batteries, but he did not rule out the possibility of supplying offensive weapons.
"Obviously, air defense systems are critically important in this situation, but at the same time, we are not taking anything off the agenda," he said.
Providing Ukraine with long-range missiles: expert opinions
As UNIAN previously reported, journalist David Ignatius said that Trump considered the possibility sending Ukraine long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles — the same weapons that were launched against Iranian targets last month. However, the Tomahawks are reportedly currently off the list of deliveries and could be deployed later if Trump wants even more leverage, Ignatius suggested.
Military analyst Oleksiy Hetman revealed that cruise missiles Tomahawk will be able to significantly help in the defense of Ukraine if they are transferred to us in hundreds, and not in individual units. According to him, the launch of Tomahawk missiles can be done from the central regions of Ukraine, and the missile will fly deep into the Russian Federation. The expert noted that these are not new missiles, but improved ones, and they are almost impossible to intercept by Russian air defense systems.
At the same time, according to aviation expert Valeriy Romanenko, It is unlikely that Trump will give Ukraine such weapons., which could greatly harm Putin. He added that it would be good if the American president would provide at least defensive weapons, and expressed confidence that he would not provide any offensive weapons.
